Discovery of Ramen: Explorer, Naruto
by Kaeji
Summary: How did Naruto start loving ramen so much? It really is an important part of his life, isn't it? Please read & review, if possible.


**Disclaimer:**Firstly, I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto does, and I respect him for it.

**Note:** This is a gift for the special person I'm secret santa for Jz-san. 333

Discovery of Ramen: Explorer, Naruto

The small boy stood just outside of the crowd, watching with wistful eyes. Everyone's attention was fixed on that Uchiha genius, that Sasuke. Why did Sasuke have to be so wonderful? His first year in the Academy, and he was already top of every class. And the watching boy had failed the genin exams countless times, and was still stuck in the Academy. Naruto sighed audibly and moved forwards a step. That Uchiha was showing off to his classmates, landing kunai after kunai on the targets, never missing a hit.

Tens of minutes passed by. Sasuke Uchiha then turned, and smirked at the crowd. "I'm done training," he announced, "Please let me go home."

The throng of admirers parted, letting the single dark boy pass through. Sasuke watched everyone in half-open eyes, an aloof expression on his face. Then catching sight of Naruto, his left eyebrow lifted a millimeter. Smugly smiling at the other boy, Sasuke turned on his way to go home.

The crowd then dispersed, girls going off to the flower shop, or maybe some frilly pink store that sold… who knows what?

Then a boy called out, "Hey! Who's up for a game of Catch the Rogue!?"

He was answered with a series of whoops and replies of, "Yeah! Catch the Rogue, c'mon!" The boys then ran off, following their leader, the one who suggested a game of Catch the Rogue.

Naruto followed after them, laughing and jesting. At last they came to their destination, a playing field long worn down by the feet of young shinobi, coming to romp and roam.

"Who's gonna be Rogue, and who's gonna be ANBU?" the leader of the boys, Aniki, shouted out.

"Me! Me!" Naruto cried out first. Aniki turned to see who had spoken, agreement on his lips. But seeing it was Uzumaki Naruto, his smile turned into a disapproving frown.

"You, Uzumaki? What are you doing here? Get away, you don't deserve to play Catch the Rogue with us real shinobi!" Aniki harshly told the other boy, shooing him away with his hand gestures.

"GO AWAY! GO AWAY!" the group of boys chanted, "UZUMAKI AIN'T NO SHINOBI!"

A shocked look crossed Naruto's face, and he bit his lip, willing himself not to cry. Turning his back on his taunters, he ran off.

Reaching a clump of trees, safely under the cover of them and away from the eyes of anyone else, he hiccupped. At last, not able to hold back any longer, he let out his sobs and wiped his eyes continuously. Tears dripped onto the dead leaves of autumn, and a pool of salt water formed on the hard earth.

Minutes, maybe hours passed. The sky grew steadily darker. The lonely boy had cried until he had no more tears to spend, and he got up and left the trees. Walking along the streets of Konoha once more, he realized that this was a street he had never come on before. Awed at how busy it was here, he looked around in amazement. Here was a weaponry shop that looked like it would by far surpass the one he had been buying from before, there was a stand that sold small keychains, phrases proclaiming luck engraved in gold on them. But one single stand caught his attention. Bright orange banner, and huge blue letters printed on it.

"I-c-h-i-r-a-k-u… R-a-m-e-n." Naruto stammered out the words on the banner. "Ramen? What's ramen?" he muttered to himself. Fishing out a pouch shaped like a toad that contained his life savings, he counted the bills inside. "Enough, dattebayo!" he exclaimed happily, and bounded into the stall.

There, he seated himself on a stool, and watched the cook making… ramen?

"Hey, mister, gimme a bowl of… ramen, will you?" Naruto demanded for a bowl of this substance he had never seen or heard of before. But it let off a delightful aroma, and that was enough to lure Naruto into ordering it.

"Large bowl or small? Beef, chicken, or regular?" was the gruff reply.

"Ano… large and beef!" Naruto answered, wondering why it mattered and what exactly it was he was asking for.

Soon, a huge bowl was plopped down in front of him. Peering inside, Naruto saw long white noodles basked in thick soup. A few slabs of beef and some leek were floating in it, as well as some other toppings.

"Well, I'll dig in, then!" Naruto said happily, half to himself. He picked up the wooden chopsticks laid out for him and gulped down the "ramen".

Mmm… he had never tasted anything so heavenly. The soup was rich and had just enough seasoning. The noodles were chewy but not _too_ chewy, thick but not _too_ thick. And as for the beef? Perfect. Leeks and some cabbage leaves, some other toppings made the whole dish complete.

"Arigato, thank you very much!" Naruto shouted to the cook, plopping more than enough payment on the counter. He skipped out of the shop and almost flew all the way home. Who cared, if the boys at the Academy made fun of him and didn't let him join in their fun? Who cared if Sasuke Uchiha beat him in everything? Who cared about anything else, as long as he had this one secret? The secret of the joys of ramen.

And so Uzumaki Naruto lived his days of a shinobi, always clinging on to his love of ramen. Nothing would stop him from becoming Hokage, as long as the ramen was always there to help him boost up his confidence when things went wrong!


End file.
